While in Austin visiting my son, we stopped at a spice shop that we have been ordering from for several years. I spent some time chatting with the sales people that afternoon since it was during the week and business was slow. Low and behold they had a peach pie spice mix – Georgia Peach Spice.
So, I have created a new spicier peach crumble which is still very low-fat and has more of a spicy flavor than the earlier version. A member of our Foundation’s web team very much enjoyed the earlier version, but my wife Debbie liked the new recipe better. So, both are presented on the blog. You pick your favorite, and please let us know your favorite.
A real improvement to my skill set was a trick that was suggested by another of our web staff – when peaches are not ripe place them in a brown paper bag, close it, and leave the bag on the counter for a day or two. I had never done that but low and behold – it worked. The peaches gained a riper flavor and fragrance over the two-day period.
So here is the newer version!
Prep time remains no more than 20-30 minutes. With the mix, a bit faster.
This time I used an 8×8 CorningWare dish to make our crumble. That serves 4-6 portions.
I suggest you take a pat or two of butter or butter/canola combo that is soft for spreading. I take a paper towel and rub the butter all over the bottom and sides of the dish to prevent sticking. Very little butter gets into the crumble. I expect you can also use a spray to prevent sticking.
Next take a large bowl – I used a CorningWare bowl, but any can be used.
Cut up 6 decent sized peaches, removing the pit and place the pieces into the bowl. If you have smaller peaches just use 1 or 2 more. When cutting the peaches, it is best to keep the pieces to bite sized. I like ½-3/4 inch pieces but don’t spend time making the pieces perfectly sized. I said this was a quick recipe!
In a separate smaller mixing bowl (I use a 2-cup glass Pyrex measuring bowl or an OXO 2 cup Good Grips Angled Cup) so that I can build the mix without needing an extra bowl which would need to be cleaned). I put:
1 cup of light brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons of Georgia Peach Spice
½ teaspoon of Cinnamon
With a fork mix the spices with the sugar.
Once mixed, completely cover the peaches with the sugar/spice mix. Add 1-1¼ tbs of lemon juice spreading it over the peaches. Use your hands to make sure all the peach pieces are covered. Set aside for about 10 minutes. You want the peaches to sweat and take on the flavors of the mix. After the peaches have rested, try a piece and see if it is sweet or spicy enough to your taste. Everyone has different tastes and the peaches are different. Adjust if you feel it could be improved. If too sweet add an extra peach being sure to cover with the sugar/spice mix. etc.
Place the peach/sugar mixture into the 8×8 dish. Set aside the empty bowl, but don’t wash it yet. Reserve any extra liquid to incorporate into the crumble topping.
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For the crumble topping – in a measuring bowl – (use the same one as the sugar was in) place
¾ cup of instant oats
1/3 cup of white flour
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ tsp of cinnamon
¼- ½ tsp of nutmeg
½ teaspoon of the Georgia Peach Spice Mix
Place the dry mix into the bowl that had the peaches. There will still be some juices from the peaches.
Add to that:
2/3 cup of peach nectar. I found it in the supermarket in the Latino section, but it might also be in the bottled/canned juice section.
To that I added 2-3 pats of softened butter or butter/canola oil blend. If the butter is not soft, melt it in a small pot or microwave.
Now vigorously mix the dry mix with the nectar/butter mix for 2-3 minutes. Be sure all dry mix becomes wet. Let sit for a few minutes so that the oats soften a bit. Be sure the dry ingredients get thoroughly mixed with the liquids and there are no lumps. Using the instant oats rather than the 5-minute oats as was used in the earlier recipe seemed to make the crumble moister. If you have 5-minute oats, let sit a bit longer and use a bit more nectar.
Last step before baking – take a large soup spoon or ladle and spoon cover the crumble mix over the peaches. There should be enough mixture to completely cover all the peaches.
Start the baking process in a pre-heated 420-degree oven for 10 minutes. Then loosely cover the crumble with aluminum foil and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees for an additional 25 minutes. Remove the foil for an additional 5-10 minutes of baking at 350 degrees. Depending on how hard the peaches were to begin with you may need a little more or less time without the cover.
This can certainly be made ahead of time and reheated. Crumble is best served warm. Serve with ice cream, frozen yogurt, or whipped crème. Watch the fat in these extras!
ENJOY!
